Breakable bottle



(No Model.) I

' M. VAN B. HOWE.

'BREA KABLE BOTTLE.

No. 575,605,; Patented Jan. 19, 1897.

' 1 1 entor. W ltnesses. I nv UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN VAN BUREN HOWE, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS.

BREAKABLE BOTTLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 57 5,605, dated January19, 1897.

Application filed December 30, 1895. Serial No. 573,713. (No model.)

all "whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARTIN VAN BUREN HOWE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Gardner, in the county of Worcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented anew and useful Improvement in BreakableBottles. of which the following is a specification.

The aim of this invention is to provide a non-fillable bottle of suchconstruction that the same has to be so broken or mutilated to withdrawthe contents as to render it impossible to restore the same to itsoriginal condition. V

My invention is especially designed as a bottle for containinghigh-grade liquors.

A great deal of fraud takes place in connection with the ordinarybottles containinghighpriced liquors.

Persons obtain the ordinary bottles containing high-priced liquors anddraw off the contents thereof and refill the bottles with liquor ofinferior grade, or draw off part of the contents and dilute the originalliquor with liquor'of inferior grade; or,again, persons may buyupbottles that have once been used and fill them up with liquors ofinferior grades and then so fix the bottles as to give them theappearance of never having been used. By these practices inferiorliquors are palmed off as the original high-priced liquors which thebottles originally contained, the bottles readily selling on account ofthe trade-marks and stamps which are attached thereto.

By the use of my invention a bottle is provided so that after the sameis once filled and prepared the bottle has to be so mutilated towithdraw any part of the contents that the same cannot be restored toits original condition and these practices carried out.

Abot-tle constructed according to my invention consists of a glassbottle provided with a head fragilely connected to the neck thereof. Thestopper or cork for the bottle is driven through the head down into theneck of the bottle. A groove is formed in the inside of said head andone or more metallic washers are snapped into this groove. The diskswhen snapped into position fit loosely in the groove,

and these disks will also take the place of the forced out byfermentation or internal pressure. I also preferably use a plurality ofdisks, one or more of them being made of hardened steel. This and thefact that the disks will readily rotate in said groove will prevent thesame being drilled through to obtain access to the cork.

To withdraw the contents of a bottle constructed according to myinvention, the head is knocked off at its fragile joint. This will giveaccess to the stopper or cork, so that the same may be withdrawn and thecontents of the bottle used, but will prevent the bottle being restoredto its normal or original condition, and thus will prevent thefraudulent practice before referred to.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings the best mode now known to mefor applying the principle of my invention.

Referring to said drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section,illustrating a bottle constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is asimilar view illustrating the bottle after the head has been removed.Figs. 3 and 4c are a plan and sectional elevation of the preferred formof disk as originally prepared, and Figs. 5 and 6 are similar views of amodified form of disk.

Referring to said drawings and in detail, A represents a glass bottle ofsuitable shape, which is provided with a suitable neck B, and near thetop of the neck the bottle is provided with a reinforcing-rib 10.

H represents a head which is formed integrally with the neck of thebottle, and is connected thereto by a fragile joint, which, in thepreferred form of my invention, consists of a joint in which a number ofholes 11 are formed, the connection between the head H and the neck 13being the glass left between the holes, and the bottle is grooved, as at12, around these holes. Other fragile connections between the head andneck may be devised. By this construction the head H can be easilyknocked 0E from the neck B, the reinforcing-rib l0 preventing cracksrunning down into the neck. The top of the head is provided with aflaring portion 13, having a mouth 14 made larger than the hole 16through the remaining portion of the head.

An annular groove 15 is formed on the inside of the head H, between themouth 14 and the hole 16, and the bottom of the groove will thus have ashoulder 17, which is smaller than the mouth 14.

The hole 160 in the neck B of the bottle, into which the stopper or corkC fits, is made somewhat smaller than either the month 14. or the hole16.

lVhen a cork is driven into its proper position in the neck of thebottle, the fragile connection between the head of the bottle and theneck willbe located some distance below the top of the cork.

\Vith a bottle made according to this construction the way the same isused is as follows: The bottle is first filled. Then the cork or stopperC is forced down into the neck 13, if desired, a suitable plunger orpress being used for this purpose. Then the disk 18 is snapped into thegroove 15. The disk is made dish-shaped or crowned, as shown in Fig. 4,so that the same will drop down through the mouth 11 and strike on theshoulder 17, and so that when in position by pushing down on the middleof said disk by suitable tools the same will be expanded or forced tofit into the groove 15. A disk of hardened steel 19, ofjust about thediameter of the mouth 14, is then dropped on the lower disk 18, and thenanother disk 18 is snapped into position on top of the steel disk 19.The top disk 18 may have a monogram or trademark stamped thereon, ifdesired. These disks when in position will hold the cork in place in theneck and thus prevent fermentation or internal pressure forcing the corkout, and thus perform the function of the ordinary wires, which may thusbe omitted. The cork is only forced into the neck far enough, so thatwhen the disks are placed in position the same will bear, or come verynear bearing, on top of the cork. 'hen the bottle is filled and sealedin this manner, it is an impossibility to get at the cork G to withdrawthe same, because it is impossible to get at the disks to pry the sameout of the bottle, and it is impossible to drill through the same to getat the stopper or to geta tool through the disks to remove the same. Ifdrilling is attempted, the disks will rotate in the groove, and thehardened-steel disk 17 will prevent the drill from passing through thedisks. If it is attempted to broach or drive a hole through the disks,the fragile joint between the head II and the neck B will in allprobability be broken.

I contemplate using in some instances only one disk in the groove.

To withdraw the contents of the bottle, as before stated, the head H isknocked off, which can be done with a slight blow. This gives access tothe stopper C, so that the same can be readily pulled out to withdrawthe contents of the bottle, but after the head II has once been knockedoff the neck of the bottle it is impossible to restore the bottle to itsoriginal condition.

By locating the fragile connection between the head and the neck of thebottle some distance below the top of the cork when the same is in itsnormal position I have found in practice that when the head H is knockedoff in some cases the cork will be carried by and adhere to the head, sothat it will be withdrawn automatically when the head is knocked off. Ifthe cork does not remain fixed in the head, so as to be withdrawntherewith, it will then be left so that it protrudes a sufficientdistance, as illustrated in Fig. 2, so that it can be readily withdrawnby hand without the use of a corkscrew or other instrument.

In Figs. 4t and 5 I have shown a modified form of the expansible disk.The disk in this modification consists of a body portion 20, a number oflips 21, (four, as shown,) which are beveled, so that when the disk isforced into the grooves the lips will be forced out, so that the samewill be expanded into position. The disks may be formed with as manylips as desired. If this construction is used, the preferred way is tomake the lip of the disk 20 very close to the lip of the mouth 14, sothat when the disk 20 is in place a tool cannot be placed under thesame.

It will be seen that a bottle constructed according to my inventionpresents a very neat and attractive appearance and is so constructedthat the ordinary labels and seals may be also used on the same, ifdesired.

The details herein shown and described may be greatly varied by askilled mechanic without departing from the scope of my invention asexpressed in the claims.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a glassbottle, a head fragilely connected to said bottle, a cork fitting bothinto the head and neck of the bottle so that the fragile connection willbe located below the top of the cork, and a plurality of metallicretaining-disks sprung into position above said cork, said disks beingof different hardness so as to prevent the same from being drilled out,substantially as described.

2. A glass bottle provided with a head fragilely connected to the neckthereof, a groove formed in the inside of said head, a metallic disksprung into said groove, a steel disk laid on said metallic disk, andanother metallic disk sprung into said groove on top of the steel disk,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

MARTIN VAN BUREN HOWE.

Vitnesses:

LOUIS W. SOUTHGATE, E. M. IIEALY.

ICC

